illery_ is perhaps the most interesting of the great
number connected with warfare. In the popular estimation it overshadows
all others. All the poetry of war celebrates the grandeur of

'Those mortal engines whose rude throats
The immortal Jove's dread clamors counterfeit.'

The thunder of great guns and the dashing of cavalry are the incidents
which spontaneously present themselves to the mind when a battle is
mentioned. Perhaps the accounts of Waterloo are responsible for this.
The steady fighting of masses of infantry, having less particulars to
attract the imagination, is overlooked; the fact, preeminent above all
others in military science, that it is the infantry which contests and
decides battles, that artillery and cavalry are only subordinate
agencies--is forgotten. So splendid have been the inventions and
achievements of the last few years in respect to artillery, as
illustrated particularly at Charleston, that some excuse may easily be
found for the popular misconception. A few remarks presenting some
truths relative to the appropriate sphere of artillery and its powers,
and stating succinctly the results which have been accomplished, may be
found interesting.

Without entering into the history of artillery, it will be sufficient to
state that the peculiar distinguishing excellence of modern improvements
in cannon is the attainment of superior efficiency, accuracy, and
mobility, with a decrease in weight of metal. A gun of any given size is
now many times superior to one of the same size in use fifty or a
hundred years ago. It is not so much in _big guns_ that we excel our
predecessors--for there are many specimens of old cannon of great
dimensions; but by our advance in science we are able so to shape our
guns and our projectiles that with less weight of material we can throw
larger shot to a greater distance and with more accuracy. A long course
of mathematical experiment and calculation has determined the exact
pressure of a charge of powder at all points in the bore of a cannon
during its combustion and evolution into gas. These experiments have
proved that strength is principally required near the breech, and that a
cannon need not be of so great length as was formerly supposed to be
necessary. We are thus able to construct guns which can be handled,
throwing balls of several hundred pounds' weight. Another splendid
result of scientific investigation is the method adopted for casting
such monster